Selena Quintanilla, often called the Queen of Tejano music, was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in Denton on Friday.
The music icon is one of the first two inductees selected to join the hall posthumously, and one of five members of the 2016 induction class.
She joins the dozens of other great women honored in the hall at Texas Woman's University in Denton and was selected for the honor by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Known by just her first name, Selena was murdered in 1995 at the age of 23 by an obsessed fan in Corpus Christi.
Carlos Saenz, a member of Fort Worth's popular Latin Express, said Selena was a fresh female voice in a genre that had been dominated by men.
"Huge, huge, huge impact," he said. "She made it cool for girls to play music in the Tejano industry."
Carlos Saenz's brother, Leo, said Selena took Tejano music from a regional to global level.
"She made it not only nationwide but worldwide," Leo Saenz said.
A memorial in Corpus Christi still draws thousands of fans.
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"It's very emotional because you know she just died so tragically and she still had a lot of things to do," Carlos Saenz said.
Jennifer Lopez portrayed Selena in a movie after her death, a role so popular it propelled Lopez to stardom in her own right.
Abbott attended Friday's hall of fame induction ceremony at Texas Woman's University and called Selena an example of "dreaming big and working hard to achieve those dreams."
Also in attendance, and accepting the late singer's award, was her sister Suzette Quintanilla, who told the crowd that Selena would have been honored to be given the "powerful award for women."
"I am forever grateful to be a part of this powerful legacy she had left behind," Suzette Quintanilla said, with a tear. "The impossible is possible, it is, because we are still talking about her 21 years later."
"I won't be surprised if we are talking about her in another 20 years because her impact was that heavy," Leo Saenz said.
Other inductees into the hall of fame included aviation pioneer Emma Carter Browning, entrepreneur Susie Hitchcock-Hall, NASA executive Ginger Kerrick and University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator.
NBC 5's Brian Scott contributed to this report.
